Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Plume D'ella Plumeria]

As was mentioned elsewhere, the industry is a mess and the reason that it's a mess is that it is unregulated. This has sorely needed to be addressed for a long time and I would hope that this is one of the objectives of the so-called 'crackdown" - that it doesn't prove to be a mere witch-hunt for the cowboys. Not that I'm not completely in favour of seeing the cowboys gone - but I'm in even more in favour of seeing the hakwans held accountable for the reprehensible practices of all too many of them.

[some waygug-in]

My guess is that it will probably do nothing in the long run and in the short run it will become an excuse to hassle legal teachers for imaginary infractions.

I don't think it will change much though.

[kalbi]

The need for part-time, and or temporary techers could be easily solved by allowing legitimate teachers to have 2nd part-time jobs. If teachers here legally are allowed to take additional part-time jobs without the complicated legal obstacles they must now go through in order to get more work, that would provide the teachers needed for part-time gigs, increase the income of legitimate teachers, and decrease the need for the tourist visa teachers.

K

[steroidmaximus]

I have to agree with some waygookin. . . the day they come down hard on the Korean side of this business will be the day hell freezes over. All we've seen so far is one side of this issue: the bad, playboy, cowboy teachers who defile the women and steal the money. I've yet to see anything resembling criticism levied at the bosses and owners.

[Summer Wine]

I agree with the statement about Hagwons needing to be looked at as well.

One place I worked, asked me to work elsewhere, which I knew to be illegal. I refused and pressure was put on me, I stuck to my guns and said no. Surprise, surprise, I was not reoffered a new contract when my old one ended.

Admittedly, I had the last laugh later, when I heard that the Hagwon had given that work to another teacher who was subsequently busted for doing illegal work and the school had to pay a fine.

Its not just us choosing to do privates, its sometimes teachers convinced that the work they are doing for the hagwon is not illegal. The Immi should consider both equally, but they wont.

[mithridates]

The place where I work at (a recruiting agency) asked me to do part-time teaching there after / before hours. I said that I wasn't interested, and besides, would they pay for the fine in the event that I were caught? "Oh, but it would never happen." "Yes, but if it did? Would you be willing to pay for the fine?" "You wouldn't be fined, haha." "That's why I would never say yes to that." I have too much to work on outside of work anyway.


Plus if I wanted to teach privates I'd do it on my own and make 50000 an hour. Why would I work through them?

[cellphone]

[Plume D'ella Plumeria]

...And Koreans, being "who they are," haven't managed to find it within themselves to regulate the hakwan biz.

[Moldy Rutabaga]

[Edit]

[Zyzyfer]

[TECO]

I worked for one of the biggest English schools in the business - BERLITZ - and they hired illegal English teachers regularly (I was one of them!).

Berlitz and other schools apparantly pay off the appropriate people in governments / immigration so as to keep the heat off.

I personaly spoke with an immigation officer about my status on the way out of Korea and told him that I had been working illegally, that I had worked for BERLITZ, and how many illegal teachers were working for BERLITZ (5 at the time). As far as I know, nothing happened to BERLITZ as I had stayed in touch with a couple of the illegal teachers I had worked for at BERLITZ.

There is much more to this than simply targeting 'cowboy' TEFL'ers, in my opinion. And, as mentioned above, it is unlikely that business owners will be the target of enforcement anytime soon.

[schwa]

Did I read that right?

You tried to rat out your coworkers for doing the same thing you got away with?

Creepy.

[cellphone]

[fidel]

[chronicpride]

Who needs english when their immigration officers speak flawless english and teachers are walking around speaking some garbled, lost dialect of Korean? Mianmida's latest CD kicks ass, btw.